Pics of Suspects in Ugandan Human Rights Office Murder and Robbery

A Ugandan human rights organization has just released its own CCTV footage of two suspects in the murder and robbery that took place at its headquarters, last night.

A security guard was brutally murdered during the break in which occurred at offices of the Ugandan organization, Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF). Apparently organizational documents and a TV screen were stolen during robbery.

It seems that this is now becoming a trend, where NGO offices are broken into and not much is taken, causing observers to believe that such break-ins may be designed to intimidate the human rights organizations, some providing services and support for issues impacting LGBTI people.

HRAPF has released photos from CCTV footage which reveals the faces of the alleged perpetrators, inside the premises. Apparently this footage, together with a bloody scene and much fingerprint evidence, provides the Police with enough information to act on immediately.

Today an emergency meeting was held with several organizations demanding a swift and thorough investigation by the police and reflecting on the concern that this is now a sector issue which is not being taken seriously by authorities.

More details will follow a press conference which has been called.

I the meantime here are the photos – PLEASE spread this around so that these men can be identified swiftly and the ongoing danger of further violence mitigated. Please note these men are dangerous and contact avoided.

If you have any information – please contact Melanie Nathan – commissionermnathan@gmail.com – until we are able to provide a direct investigator to contact.

The excellent work of HRAPF has been featured often on this blog. READ MORE.

Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF) urges the Ugandan government to conduct a transparent and swift investigation into the break-in to the HRAPF offices on 22 May 2016, during which the guard on duty was beaten to death.

Four assailants murdered Emmanuel Alituha in the early hours of 22 May 2016, who was the guard on duty that morning, and proceeded to break into the office building. Despite attempts to disable cameras and the alarm system, both remained functional and security camera footage confirmed the events.

The offices of the Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director were broken into and left ransacked. The assailants broke open all the drawers and cupboards and combed through documents and files. They took away a number of documents some yet to be identified, except for a certified copy of our Articles and Memorandum of Association and a flat screen TV, which was at the Reception. Surprisingly, computers, laptops and other electronic gadgets that thieves could easily take were all left intact including those near the window that was used to gain access to the main building.

The Police arrived at HRAPF at around 8:00am to investigate the crime scene. This was about two hours after they were first notified of the break in. They took samples of physical evidence.

This incident follows a spate of attacks on the homes of two of our staff members in the past one month in which laptops and phones were taken. HRAPF is also deeply concerned about this break-in and similar ones that have happened before at other Civil Society Organisations. Such break-ins of which the purpose is never clear frustrate important work that serves the interests of the common people.

We call upon the police to quickly complete the investigations, as we are very worried about the motive of this horrendous crime.